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Posts Tagged ‘Tribune Company’

Out of Bankruptcy, Tribune Company Plans to Sell Pretty Much Everything

Anyone want to buy a newspaper? How about a TV station? Or maybe you’re more of a web fan, in which case careerbuilder.com might interest you. Either way, if you’re a media mogul with deep pockets, The Tribune Company has something for you.

The company has just emerged from bankruptcy with a new board, and they’re planning a fire sale. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Tribune Company wants to sell its eight newspapers, 23 TV stations and various sites, like Career Builder.

The papers — which include heavyweights like the Tribune and The Los Angeles Times — are only valued at about $623 million total. The TV stations and web properties — including WPIX and national cable channel WGN — are worth much more; at about $2.85 billion.

Somewhere, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett are counting up the change in their respective piggy banks.

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Tribune Memo to Staff: We’re Actually Making Money

tribunehhh logo.jpgDon’t tell the creditors that are chomping at the bit to push Sam Zell out of the Tribune Company so they can divvy up whatever assets are left after this elongated bankruptcy, but the publisher might actually be making some money these days.

According to a memo signed by Tribune’s COO Gerry Spector and chief executive Randy Michaels yesterday, “it appears we will finish the year with close to $500 million in operating cash flow.” This comes two months after Zell pleaded with the Delaware bankruptcy court for an extension on the amount of time needed to scrape his company out of bankruptcy.

Despite protests from the Tribune’s lenders (who most likely see Zell’s grace period as a stalling technique, and wished to take control of the reorganizing procedures), the Tribune execs promised that they could get the company out of bankruptcy by May 31. Though with this figure of $500 million now being floated around — over $100 million more than originally anticipated — that day may come sooner than the publisher anticipated. It’s one thing to boost morale with a memo about the tons of money you’re currently raking in, it’s quite another to do so with creditors breathing down your neck. Stay tuned as more information develops.

Full memo after the jump.

Read More: Tribune: We finished 2009 with close to $500 million in operating cash flow –Romenesko

Previously: Tribune Co.’s No Good, Very Bad Week, Tribune Plans To Emerge From Bankruptcy By May 31

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Tribune Co.’s No Good, Very Bad Week

tribune logo22.jpg

Sam Zell is not going to be having the greatest Thanksgiving this year: not only has The New York Times enlisted some of his former Tribune Company employees to write the paper’s new Chicago edition, but the newspaper publisher’s request for an extension on its exclusive right to file a reorganization plan to lift the company from Chapter 11 is a being challenged by the company’s creditors, Editor & Publisher reports.

It’s been almost a year since Tribune filed for bankruptcy and it wants to maintain control over its reorganization plan, which it has yet to file to the court for approval. Two weeks ago, top execs at Tribune asked for an extension for the filing of the plan until May, with the promise that the fourth quarters are traditionally the strongest at the company’s papers. Now some of Tribune’s lenders are seeking to block Tribune’s extension request and asking to see more evidence for their allegations that the company’s 2007 going-private deal was a fraudulent conveyance.

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New York Times Launches Local Chicago Edition Today

the_new_york_times_logo-thumb-200x29-4502.pngToday saw the premiere issue of the much-discussed Chicago edition of The New York Times. The Times has been encroaching on regional news since it started Bay Area coverage last month, and the launch in Chicago is further indication that Arthur Sulzberger and company are betting the future of journalism is in hyper-local coverage.

But it’s not just the outreach to other cities that has competing publications worried: The Tribune Company, which owns The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times, lost several of its editors to the newly-formed Chicago News Cooperative, the organization now providing content for the Chicago edition of the Times. The co-op will be providing two additional pages of Chicago-based coverage for the Times twice a week, which will be added to the paper for the region.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal launched their own San Francisco edition earlier this month, proving one again: If you bill it, they will come.

Read More: The Times to Begin Chicago Edition on FridayNew York Times

Previously: More Tribune Employees Join Chicago News Cooperative, Tribune Employees To Create Content For NYT In Chicago

Tribune Employees Lose What Little Stake They Had Left In Company

tribune logo.jpgNo big shocker here: Sam Zell‘s bankruptcy of the Tribune Company is going to end up costing its employees more than just their jobs or perks, it’s also going to retroactively remove their stock ownership in the company.

To be fair, employees will still receive their first share allocations of ESOP, a program that gives employees options in their company. But as The Los Angeles Times noted, “those allocations won’t be worth the paper they’re printed on because of the bankruptcy.” And the Times should know: They are one of the papers owned by the ill-fated Tribune Co., along with The Chicago Tribune.

So, when the company went bankrupt, employees received shares, but now that the banks have bought out Zell, the stock (no pun intended) that the staffers put into their publication is no longer an option.

Read more: Tribune to end employee stock ownership plan

Earlier: Tribune Co. Files for Bankruptcy, Tales of the Tribune Co.: It’s All Gone Straight to Zell